Butterflies Seen
Seventeen counters in 6 parties scoured the Santa Rita Mtns for butterflies on a nice, sunny day to be in the field! Unfortunately, the party planned for the high country called in sick at the last minute, so we didn't get coverage high up in the mountains so undoubtedly we missed missed finding a few species. Count numbers reflect the continuing severe drought in the area alnong with a late, less than average Monsoon Season. Three species that are new to the count are in BOLD print. Butterflies observed and counted:
- Pipevine Swallowtail Battus philenor 15
- Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes 2
- Western Giant Swallowtail Papilio Rumiko 9
- Two-tailed Swallowtail Papilio multicaudata 22
- Checkered White Pontia protodice 4
- Orange Sulphur Colias eurytheme 7
- Southern Dogface Colias cesonia 80
- Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae 7
- Mexican Yellow Eurema Mexicana 9
- Tailed Orange Eurema proterpia 151
- Sleepy Orange Eurema nicippe 19
- Dainty Sulphur Nathalis iole 90
- Great Purple Hairstreak Atlides halesus 1
- Marine Blue Leptotes marina 70
- Ceraunus Blue Hemiargus Ceraunus 70
- Reakirt’s Blue Hemiargus isola 6
- ‘Echo’ Spring Azure Celastrina ladon 16
- Fatal Metalmark Calephelis nemesis 1
- Ares Metalmark Emesis ares 1
- Palmer's Metalmark Apodemia palmeri 25
- American Snout Libytheana carinenta 148
- Gulf Fritillary Agraulis vanilla 2
- Variegated Fritillary Euptoieta claudia 18
- Bordered Patch Chlosyne lacinia 23
- Tiny Checkerspot Dymasia dymas 6
- Elada (AZ) Checkerspot Texola elada 405
- Texan Crescent Phyciodes texana 1
- Vesta Crescent Phyciodes vesta 1
- Pearl Crescent Phyciodes tharos 2
- American Lady Vanessa virginiensis 5
- Painted Lady Vanessa cardui 13
- ‘Dark’ Tropical Buckeye J.genoveva nigrosuffusa 1
- Red-spotted Purple Limenitis arthemis astyanax 23
- ‘Arizona’ California Sister Adelpha bredowii 16
- Hackberry Emperor Asterocampa celtis 12
- Empress Leilia Asterocampa leilia 62
- Tawny Emperor Asterocampa clyton 5
- Red-bordered Satyr Gyrocheilus patrobas 68
- Monarch Danaus Plexippus 1
- Queen Danaus gilippus 32
- Dull Firetip Pyrrhopyge araxes 52
- Dorantes Longtail Urbanus Dorantes 10
- Desert Cloudywing Achalarus casica 2
- Northern Cloudywing Thorybes pylades 1
- Acacia Skipper Cogia hippalus 4
- Golden-headed Scallopwing Staphylus ceos 8
- Arizona Powdered-Skipper Systasea zampa 1
- Mournful Duskywing Erynnis tristis 1
- Funereal Duskywing Erynnis funeralis 16
- Common/White Checkered-Skipper Pyrgus albis/communis 5
- Common Streaky-Skipper Celotes nessus 1
- Common Sootywing Pholisora Catullus 1
- Orange Skipperling Copaeodes aurantiacus
- Arizona Giant-Skipper Agathymus aryxna 2
Phoebus sp. 2
Pyrisitia/Abaeis sp. 80
Blue sp. 38
Total Individuals 2,136
Species counted:
HESPERIIDAE - SKIPPERS
B. albescens/communis - Checkered skipper sp. 11
Cecropterus casica - Desert cloudywing 2
Cecropterus drusius - Drusius cloudywing 11
Cecropterus pylades - Northern cloudywing 393
Celotes sabinus - Arizona streaky skipper 19
Codatractus arizonensis - Arizona skipper 4
Cogia hippalus - Acacia skipper 140
Erynnis funeralis - Funereal duskywing 3
Erynnis tristis - Mournful duskywing 1
Pholisora albicirrus - White-clouded sootywing 250
Staphylus ceos - Golden-headed scallopwing 487
Amblyscirtes aenus - Bronze roadside-skipper 16
Amblyscirtes elissa - Elissa roadside-skipper 1
Amblyscirtes eos - Dotted roadside-skipper 8
Amblyscirtes exoteria - Large roadside-skipper 2
Amblyscirtes nereus - Slaty roadside-skipper 1
Amblyscirtes nysa - Nysa roadside-skipper 3
Amblyscirtes texanae - Texas roadside-skipper 10
Amblyscirtes tolteca - Toltec roadside-skipper 4
Ancyloxypha arene - Tropical least skipper 29
Atrytonopsis lunus - Moon-marked skipper 17
Hylephila phyleus - Fiery skipper 7
Lerodea eufala - Eufala skipper 2
Oarisma aurantiaca - Orange skipperling 10
PAPILIONIDAE - SWALLOWTAILS
Battus philenor - Pipevine swallowtail 84
Heraclides rumiko - Western giant swallowtail 1
Papilio polyxenes - Black swallowtail 1
Pterourus multicaudata - Two-tailed swallowtail 2
PIERIDAE - WHITES AND SULPHURS
Eurema nicippe - Sleepy orange 112
Eurema proterpia - Tailed orange 4
Kricogonia lyside - Lyside sulphur 16
Nathalis iole - Dainty sulphur 1
Phoebis agarithe - Large orange sulphur 1
Phoebis sennae - Cloudless sulphur 75
Pieris rapae - Cabbage white 4
Pontia protodice - Checkered white 3
Zerene cesonia - Southern dogface 66
RIODINIDAE - METALMARKS
Apodemia palmerii - Palmer's metalmark 71
Apodemia zela - Zela metalmark 38
Calephelis arizonensis - Arizona metalmark 5
Calephelis nemesis - Fatal metalmark 4
LYCAENIDAE - BLUES AND HAIRSTREAKS
Atlides halesus - Great blue hairstreak 1
Callophrys siva - Juniper hairstreak 26
Ministrymon leda - Leda ministreak 25
Strymon melinus - Gray hairstreak 9
Echinargus isola - Reakirt's blue 3
Hemiargus ceraunus - Ceraunus blue 925
Icaricia acmon - Texas acmon blue 0
Leptotes marina - Marine blue 80
LIBYTHEIDAE - SNOUT BUTTERFLIES
Libytheana carinenta - American snout 8
NYMPHALIDAE - BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES
Adelpha eulalia - Arizona sister 1
Anthanassa texana - Texas crescent 78
Asterocampa leilia - Empress leilia 4
Chlosyne lacinia - Bordered patch 986
Chlosyne theona - Theona checkerspot 11
Cissia rubricata - Red satyr 44
Dione vanillae - Gulf fritillary 19
Dymasia dymas - Tiny checkerspot 270
Euptoieta claudia - Variegated fritillary 21
Limenitis archippus - Viceroy 6
Limenitis a. arizonensis - Red-spotted purple 1
Phyciodes picta - Painted crescent 9
Texola perse - Arizona checkerspot 804
TOTAL SPECIES: 64
We ended up with a total of 49 species, which I think is quite extraordinary, considering how dry it was here overall. The only real blooms we had were at the Visitor Center & in our lovely neighbors' gardens! We had 4 different "groups" this year, each contributing a few butteflies not found by the others. Count results:
- Pipevine Swallowtail Battus philenor 4
- Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes 1
- Two-tailed Swallowtail Papilio multicaudata 10
- Checkered White Pontia protodice 2
- Cabbage White Pieris rapae 2
- Orange Sulphur Colias eurytheme 373
- Southern Dogface Colias cesonia 23
- Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae 11
- Lyside Sulphur Kricogonia lyside 1
- Mexican Yellow Eurema Mexicana 4
- Sleepy Orange Eurema nicippe 11
- Dainty Sulphur Nathalis iole 9
- Thicket Hairstreak Callophrys spinetorum 1
- Siva' Juniper Hairstreak Callophrys gryneus siva 31
- Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinus 1
- Leda Ministreak Ministrymon leda 1
- Marine Blue Leptotes marina 80
- Ceraunus Blue Hemiargus Ceraunus 82
- Central Dotted-Blue Euphilotes centralis 15
- Reakirt’s Blue Hemiargus isola 5
- ‘Echo’ Spring Azure Celastrina ladon 1
- Mormon Metalmark Apodemia mormo 17
- Palmer's Metalmark Apodemia palmeri 1
- Variegated Fritillary Euptoieta claudia 43
- Elada Checkerspot Texola elada 5
- American Lady Vanessa virginiensis 1
- Common Buckeye Junonia coenia 2
- Red-spotted Purple Limenitis arthemis astyanax 1
- ‘Arizona’ California Sister Adelpha bredowii 1
- Empress Leilia Asterocampa leilia 1
- Red Satyr Megisto rubricata 22
- Monarch Danaus Plexippus 1
- Queen Danaus gilippus 11
- Silver-spotted Skipper Epargyreus clarus 4
- Northern Cloudywing Thorybes pylades 47
- Drusius Cloudywing Thorybes drusius 3
- Golden-headed Scallopwing Staphylus ceos 30
- Funereal Duskywing Erynnis funeralis 3
- Common/White Checkered-Skipper Pyrgus communis/albis 4
- Common Sootywing Pholisora Catullus 33
- Four-spotted Skipperling Piruna polingi 1
- Orange Skipperling Copaeodes aurantiacus 5
- Snow's Skipper Paratrytone snowi 1
- Taxiles Skipper Poanes taxiles 6
- Moon-marked Skipper Atrytonopsis lunus 3
- Cassus Roadside-Skipper Amblyscirtes cassus 1
- Bronze Roadside-Skipper Amblyscirtes aenus 5
- Texas Roadside-Skipper Amblyscirtes texanae 5
- Orange-edged Roadsd-Sk Ambyscirtes fimbriate 1
Total 49 species 928 individuals.
Field Notes: Severe drought, carried over from previous year. Hardly anything blooming, except in gardens.
The high temperatures made it one of the more challenging days in the field, but I think we all did our best given the conditions. Unsurprisingly, our totals were among the lowest we’ve ever recorded—just barely surpassing 2020’s numbers.
As some may recall, 2020 was the second driest year on record in Tucson (4.17 inches) and also when the Bighorn Fire consumed a large portion of the mountain. Looking at rainfall from August 1, 2024, through July 31, 2025, we’ve likely just experienced the third driest 12-month span on record (4.56 inches). If you omit August and July, the 10-month rainfall total drops to just 1.54 inches—possibly the lowest ever recorded for that length of time. Timing is everything, and with the lack of consistent monsoon moisture and winter rains, we’re clearly seeing the negative impacts on the region’s flora and fauna.
One of the most striking findings from this year’s count, which I also noticed from the Santa Rita count a couple days prior, was the scarcity of brush-footed butterflies: just 8 individuals we observed on this year’s count, representing 7 species. This is by far the lowest total we’ve ever recorded for this group. Count results:
Swallowtails (Papilionidae)
1 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 14
2 Two-Tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 6
Whites and Sulphurs (Pieridae)
3 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 10
4 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 14
5 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 27
6 Lyside Sulphur (Kricogonia lyside) 8
7 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 1
8 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 5
Sulphur sp? 7
Hairstreaks and Blues (Lycaenidae)
9 Thicket Hairstreak (Callophrys spinetorum) 1
10 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 1
11 Arizona Hairstreak (Erora quaderna) 3
12 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 47
13 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 5
14 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 1
15 'Echo' Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon echo) 7
Blue sp? 3
Metalmarks (Riodinidae)
16 Fatal Metalmark - (Calephelis nemesis) 2
17 Nais Metalmark - (Apodemia nais) 42
Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae)
18 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 1
19 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 1
20 Elada Checkerspot (Texola elada) 1
21 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 1
Comma sp.? (Polygonia sp.) 1
22 Red Satyr (Megisto rubricata) 1
23 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 2
Skippers (Hesperiidae)
24 Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) 2
25 Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades) 5
26 Acacia Skipper (Cogia hippalus) 8
27 Golden-headed Scallopwing (Staphylus ceos) 6
28 Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis) 2
29 Pacuvius Duskywing (Erynnis pacuvius) 12
30 Common Streaky-Skipper (Celotes nessus) 1
31 Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus) 3
32 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 1
33 Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) 1
34 Taxiles Skipper (Poanes taxiles) 52
35 Cassus Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes cassus) 1
36 Bronze Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes aenus) 1
Species Total: 36
Individuals 307
As expected butterfly survey results were notably low, likely due to the combined effects of limited rainfall and prolonged above average temperatures. While I haven’t found a good resource for rainfall information in Madera Canyon, there is information available from Green Valley. Based on rainfall totals from NOAA and Rainlog it looks like the Green Valley area has received roughly 5 inches of rain from the beginning of August 2024 through the end of July of this year. For comparison, the yearly average for Green Valley is about 13.5 inches/year, so we’re well below the normal range.
The highest rainfall total in the past 12 months occurred just last month, with 2.63 inches recorded in July 2025. Nearly all of it fell during two events—approximately 0.9 inches on July 3–4 and 1.63 inches on July 16. This prolonged lack of consistent moisture has significantly limited new plant growth, leaving most nectar sources and host plants in poor condition. With rain in the forecast later this week, we can only hope it arrives and brings some much-needed relief to the region.
While numbers were incredibly low overall we did record an all-time high for one species (Lyside Sulphur) which was likely a result of a recent irruption in Mexico. The previous record high for Lyside Sulphur during the summer count was 5 (2015).
The official results of the 2025 Summer Santa Rita butterfly count:
Swallowtails (Papilionidae)
1 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 8
2 Two-Tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 17
Whites and Sulphurs (Pieridae)
3 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 3
4 Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) 25
5 Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) 2
6 Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) 17
7 Large Orange Sulphur (Phoebis agarithe) 5
8 Lyside Sulphur (Kricogonia lyside) 71
9 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 1
10 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 3
Hairstreaks and Blues (Lycaenidae)
11 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 1
12 Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda) 2
13 Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exile) 1
14 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 191
15 'Echo' Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon echo) 2
16 Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) 132
17 Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) 3
Metalmarks (Riodinidae)
18 Palmer's Metalmark (Apodemia palmerii) 10
Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae)
19 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 70
20 Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) 2
21 Theona Checkerspot (Chlosyne theona) 2
22 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 64
23 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 73
24 Elada Checkerspot (Texola elada) 106
25 Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 1
26 Red-Spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) 4
27 Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) 1
28 Empress Leilia (Asterocampa leilia) 26
29 Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton) 1
30 Red Satyr (Megisto rubricata) 23
31 Queen (Danaus gilippus) 3
Satyr sp. 6
Skippers (Hesperiidae)
32 Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) 2
33 Arizona Skipper (Codatractus arizonensis) 30
34 Desert Cloudywing (Achalarus casica) 7
35 Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades) 31
36 Drusius Cloudywing (Thorybes drusius) 1
37 Acacia Skipper (Cogia hippalus) 87
38 Golden-headed Scallopwing (Staphylus ceos) 14
39 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 2
40 Common Streaky-Skipper (Celotes nessus) 7
41 Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus) 14
42 Orange Skipperling (C. aurantiaca) 1
43 Pahaska Skipper (Hesperia pahaska) 1
44 Taxiles Skipper (Poanes taxiles) 3
45 Moon-marked Skipper (Atrytonopsis lunus) 10
46 Large Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes exoteria) 6
47 Cassus Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes cassus) 5
48 Bronze Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes aenus) 10
49 Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala) 1
Atrytonopsis sp. 1
Amblyscirtes sp. 1
INDIVIDUALS RECORDED 1110
SPECIES RECORDED 49
Thanks to all that came out and participated in this year’s count! We had a total of 22 people in the field which were divided into 11 different groups, roughly 40 miles on foot.
I think we all knew heading in it was going to tough out there given the continuing drought and lack of nectar, though I’m honestly a little surprised how well we did. In what might be one of the worst droughts to date we recorded 50 species, which is only the 4th lowest total over the past 15 years. That being said nearly half of those were “ones” or “twos” so overall there really wasn’t much flying. In terms of overall numbers we recorded the 3rd lowest total (602), with 2011 recording the 2nd lowest (584), and 2021 the lowest (371).
By far the most surprising find was a Euphilotes (originally thought to be an Acmon Blue), discovered by counters near Summerhaven.
English (Scientific )
Swallowtails (Papilionidae)
1 Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) 48
2 Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) 1
3 Two-Tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) 15
Whites and Sulphurs (Pieridae)
4 Checkered White (Pontia protodice) 3
5 Spring White (Pontia sisymbrii) 4
6 'Desert' Pearly Marble (Euchloe hyantis lotta) 1
7 'Pima' Desert Orangetip (Anthocharis cethura pima) 1
8 'SW' Sara Orangetip (Anthocharis sara thoosa) 3
9 Mexican Yellow (Eurema mexicana) 2
10 Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) 8
11 Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) 5
Sulphur sp. 1
Hairstreaks and Blues (Lycaenidae)
12 Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus) 2
13 'Siva' Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus siva) 5
14 Thicket Hairstreak (Callophrys spinetorum) 2
15 Brown Elfin (Callophrys augustinus) 36
16 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) 5
17 Arizona Hairstreak (Erora quaderna) 2
18 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) 224
19 Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) 1
20 'Echo' Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon echo) 7
21 Euphilotes sp. 1
Metalmarks (Riodinidae)
22 Fatal Metalmark - (Calephelis nemesis) 2
Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae)
23 American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) 1
24 Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) 2
25 Theona Checkerspot (Chlosyne theona) 2
26 Fulvia Checkerspot (Chlosyne fulvia) 1
27 Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) 1
28 Sagebrush Checkerspot (Chlosyne acastus) 6
29 Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) 2
30 Elada Checkerspot (Texola elada) 1
31 Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta) 1
32 Texan Crescent (Anthanassa texana) 1
33 Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) 1
34 Satyr Comma (Polygonia satyrus) 8
35 Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) 20
36 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) 1
37 Empress Leilia (Asterocampa leilia) 9
Checkerspot sp. 1
38 Danaus sp. 1
Skippers (Hesperiidae)
39 Golden-headed Scallopwing (Staphylus ceos) 74
40 Arizona Powdered-Skipper (Systasea zampa) 12
41 Sleepy Duskywing (Erynnis brizo) 7
42 Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis) 8
43 Meridian Duskywing (Erynnis meridianus) 1
44 Pacuvius Duskywing (Erynnis pacuvius) 16
45 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) 6
46 White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus albescens) 2
47 Common Streaky-Skipper (Celotes nessus) 8
48 Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus) 1
49 Orange Skipperling (Copaeodes aurantiaca) 12
50 Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) 13
Grass Skipper sp. 2
Duskywing sp? (Erynnis sp?) 2
50 Species Total
602 Total Individuals